OBX

Well, it was certainly an adventure for the Barnette Five on the Outer Banks today, as we trekked the two hours over to Nags Head and soaked-up some sun.

Stop #1: Jockey's Ridge State Park.

The last time Tim and I had been to Jockey's Ridge, we were newly married without any children yet.  So it was super fun revisiting and showing the kids the largest sand dunes on the Eastern side of North America. 

Although we had come with grand aspirations of flying kites, our hopes were defeated when the winds wouldn't pick-up (although they would pick-up mightily later in the day).  Try as he might, Tim just couldn't get a kite to fly.  But our disappointment probably paled in comparison with...

...the disappointment of all the folks who had paid money for lessons but couldn't get their hang-gliders off the ground! :(

 "It's like a desert!" Christopher said. 

He was a big fan of the dunes...

 Even the fact that he had to climb back up the soft sand couldn't sway Christopher's love of the dunes.

Stop #2: we had to stop at North Carolina's COOLEST shop:

 This one (below) was my favorite in the store.  A hammock in perpetual shade.

And of course we HAD to take a walk on the pier. 

 It's a Barnette Family Tradition.

Stop #3: Jeanette's Pier

Interesting how we saw the island working to fix its sand erosion/dispersion problem.  There were areas like this one right beside the pier where the sand was piling-up, at times covering stairways and decks; but at other parts of beach, dump trucks were bringing in sand to fill in holes and gaps on the beach. 

 While we were walking the pier the wind really picked-up.  

We thought we were going to get blown away...as Christopher demonstrated.  Ha!

Below, John does his "I caught a fish THIS BIG" pose under a replica of one of the largest sharks ever caught on the Outer Banks.  Look closely at John's favorite t-shirt - which he was wearing today just like he does everyday - and you can tell that John loves sharks.  Makos like this one are one of his favorite kinds.

Stop #3: Miller's Waterfront Restaurant

We tried this new seafood restaurant on this trip, and it turned-out to be a hit.  I had an absolutely awesome lobster roll, and Tim....to no one's surprise....found the "Simply Fried" section of the menu.

Besides the good seafood, one of the cooler things about Miller's Restaurant was its beautiful view of the Pamlico Sound.  We had so much fun watching the kite boarders on the sound fly across the water and sometimes even into the air.

On the drive back home on 64, we took a turn onto the Charles Kuralt Trail, just on a whim because it looked interesting.  Turned-out to be a pretty cool little drive...

 We got to watch a muskrat swim and we counted dozens of turtles.

 Tim found a cottonmouth (water mocassin) sunning itself in the road that he kindly relocated out of harm's way.   I think Mr. Cottonmouth told Tim "thank you." :)

But our big excitement came when we were exiting the Charles Kuralt Trail and out of nowhere a black bear came out of the roadside canal and ran across the road right infront of us!  Tim actually had to hit the breaks and turn the wheel to avoid hitting the bear.  I couldn't grab my camera quick enough to snap a shot of the bear, but you can see the water trail it left.  We had heard that the Outer Banks had bears, and now we've seen it for ourselves.

Thanks, Lord, for a great day on the Banks!